'I Love His Intensity': Jaeden Roberts Pushed by OL-Minded Ryan Grubb

The veteran Crimson Tide lineman spoke Wednesday about Grubb and what he brings to spring practice.

The Crimson Tide players and coaches continue working toward the season opener in practice Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Alabama offensive lineman Parker Brailsford (72) and Alabama offensive lineman Jaeden Roberts (77) pull and block. | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— New Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has offensive line in his DNA. He started out in FBS football as Eastern Michigan's offensive line coach, a role he later took on at Fresno State.

That background bodes well for Grubb and his stint in Tuscaloosa, where his familiarity with head coach Kalen DeBoer is well established. Veteran Crimson Tide offensive lineman Jaeden Roberts thinks so, at least.

"I love his intensity," Roberts said Wednesday after practice. "I love him as a coach. He's just that guy to be out there. The guy that we need to push the offense and make us better."

Roberts, a redshirt senior who was Alabama's starting right guard last season, can certainly ascertain that Grubb used to be an offensive line coach. That part of his demeanor has been evident during spring ball.

"He pushes me, he pushes the whole offense to be better," Roberts said. "He has this vision to where you just wanna follow behind him and just get better... He was definitely an offensive line guy. Even for his small height, definitely an offensive line guy. You can see that sometimes during practice."

He went on to compare lectures from Grubb to those from Nick Saban in the past—"It's a little different, but the energy's still there"— and expounded on what he's been doing to get back healthy after being plagued by some physical ailments last fall.

"I've been working on it this offseason, just during this spring, just to get better and stay healthy," Roberts, who assessed himself at full health, said. "Day in, day out, we're capitalizing on all the things that we're doing on the field. We have worked to hit different goals... You can definitely see the team just growing."

Among those unit and team goals: Leadership, detail orientation and becoming more dynamic. Roberts believes these are areas that the team can take steps forward in compared to last season. It stands to reason that Grubb's presence and coaching can be of help in that department as well.

"It's not just, like, the older guys from last year leading," Roberts said. "You also have young guys leading too. I think that's a huge thing."